Buckley

Two weeks ago we got ourselves a puppy. We've been wanting one for a while but never had the timing right. We finally decided to go for it and got a Soft Coated Wheaten.  Wheatens average around 35 lbs when fully grown, they don't shed, love people and they like the water.  Should make for a good pet.

After a couple of days of wrestling with name ideas - we even resorted to our own whiteboard session - we named her Buckley after Jeff Buckley (also like the dog in The Royal Tannenbaums) Elizabeth brought the name to the table and we both liked it so we went with it. So far Buckley's been a great pup, she is learning quickly although she can be stubborn at times. We are all getting adjusted to our new lives together but I think she fits right in.

old milwaukee

Last weekend Elizabeth had a baby shower to attend in Milwaukee, so I thought I'd tag along and explore a little around Milwaukee's downtown.  I met John McDonald for lunch and we hung out a few hours around there.  John brought along his 7 month old daughter so I could meet her.  We had a good time catching up.  Unfortunately Elizabeth had the good camera at the shower, I had an old camera but it didn't have any batteries.  I did venture to go buy some batteries but when I got some the camera didn't work, so I don't any pictures of our visit.  We did take some when Elizabeth came back to pick me up though.  Anyway we had a nice saturday there and truly enjoyed the Milwaukee lakefront area.

The Last Lecture

My last few years of high school I received lots of mail from Carnegie Mellon University, I didn't know anything about that school so I didn't bother to take a look at it. Had I seen this video back then I would have definitely given them a serious look.

They have a series called the Last Lecture, this particular lecture was given last year by Dr. Randy Pausch, and it was indeed his final lecture as he has terminal cancer. I remember seeing a lot of news coverage when the lecture took place but I had never listened to it, it truly is a great lecture.
Do yourself a favor and watch/listen to the whole thing sometime, I'll also post a summarized version below.

Get Your Tickets?

Photo @ hrtmnstrfr


I ordered my tickets to Lollapalooza a few weeks ago, and I'm pretty excited for this year's lineup. Of course the headliners are a big draw - Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Wilco but I'm also looking forward to a whole lot of other bands, here are some highlights for me : Raconteurs, Black Keys, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, G Love, The National, John Butler Trio, Battles, Rouge Wave, Mason Jennings, The Whigs, and Manchester Orchestra. Should be a great weekend, let me know if you're in.

Last weekend I gathered up all my trusty Nalgene bottles and put them away for good.  There's been a lot of coverage about those bottles and the cancer causing BPA from which they are made.  The news came out several months ago, and I didn't deem it necessary to stop using them, figuring it was just another health scare.  The reports have intensified these last few weeks and seems we've been getting a lot of news agencies trying to use our bottle collection process as a backdrop for their news reports.  Anyway last week I read that Nalgene was pulling all those bottles from the shelves of retailers nationwide.  I took that to be a pretty good sign I shouldn't use them anymore.  They are making new BPA-free bottles so look out for those, of course you can also use the old school milky-white Nalgene bottles or pick up a cool Sigg bottle, like the ones in front here.  

Nalgene and other Lexan bottles have been a staple of our generation, kind of sad to see their demise.

caLI

Last weekend, Dave and Jackie visited us from California. We took a few days off work and hung out with them doing touristy things, my in-laws joined us for most of the weekend as well. Elizabeth did a good job recapping the weekend, so check it out there , just thought I'd add some other pictures.
The first night out we ended up at a private party room, which used to be a law library, here I am catching up on my favorite torts.
Spent the next day being all touristy, here we are on the architectural boat tour.
Ended up at Wrigley watching the Cubs open a can on the Pirates (sorry Dan)

The Breakdown

Our car broke down this week, just a couple faulty sensors, nothing huge, it was all covered under warranty, so it wasn't a huge deal. This was our first time dealing with the Mazda dealer since we bought our car there and I must say it was a pleasant experience. They don't give out courtesy cars there though, what they do is send you next door to the Enterprise Rent A Car and set you up there. They gave me a Chevy Equinox and I was impressed with it, it's a sweet ride. It's supposed to be a smaller suv but it felt pretty big to me, anyway if it wasn't an suv I'd consider it for my next purchase, regardless it has made me reconsider Chevy cars and GM in general I guess. I wonder if the Mazda dealer thinks about things like that when they send me to the rental company to test drive other cars.

New Computer

A few weeks ago our computer died. I spent a couple of days trying to decide whether to get another desktop computer or a laptop. I decided to go with a laptop for its versatility even though I don't have a job where I would need one and most of its use would be at home anyway. I figured with being involved with the Communications and Arts Committee at church and worship leading it could be useful to have a laptop. Still getting adjusted to the new operating system and trying to figure out how to load some open source programs I use a lot on it. It hasn't been as simple as those commercials make it out to be, but I'm not complaining.

A letter from God to Man

I just heard this song, pretty cool go listen to it, it's a poem read over a remixed Radiohead song, here are the lyrics:

Letter from God to Man (Scroobius Pip)

Hey there.
How's it going?
Long
Time
No
See.
I know I haven't been around much but it didn't seem like you wanted me to be.

the last time I sent down a message, you nailed it to a cross.
So I figured I'd just leave you to it and be your own boss.

But I've been keeping an eye on you, I have. And it's amazing how you've grown.
All your technological advances and the problems you've overthrown.

All the beautiful art you've created with such grace and such finesse.
But I must admit there are a few things that, I'm afraid, Have impressed me less.

So I'm writing to apologise for all the horrors committed in my name.
Although it was never what I intended I feel I should take my share of the blame.

A lot of the good I tried to do was corrupted when organised religion got into full swing.
What I thought were quite clear messages were taken to unusual extremes.

My teachings were taken out of context to meet the agenda of others.
Interpretations were taken in many different ways and hidden meanings 'discovered.'

Religion became a tool for the weak to control the strong.
With all these new morals and ethics survival of the fittest was gone.

No longer could the biggest man simply take what ever he needed,
Because damnation was the price if certain rules were not heeded.

Some of the deeds committed in my name just make me wonder where I went wrong.
Back at the start when I 'created' all of this, the foundations seemed so strong.

See all the elements wee already here long before I began.
I just kind of put them all together. I didn't really think out a long term plan.

I made the sun an appropriate distance and laid the starts across the sky,
So you could navigate this globe or simply experience a sunrise.

I covered the earth with plants and fruits, some for sustenance and some for beauty.
And made the sun shine and clouds rain so that maintenance wasn't your duty.

I tried to give each creature its own attributes. But without making them enveloped.
I gave you all space to grow and, in your own way, space to develop.

I didn't know that such development would cause rifts and jealousy.
Cause you to war against each other and leave marks on this planet indelibly.

You see, I wasn't the creator, more the curator of nature.
And I want to set things straight with homosexuals right now; I DON'T hate ya.

I was a simple being that happened to be the first to yield such powers.
But I just laid the ground. It was you that built the towers.

It was you that invented bombs and fear that comes with them.
It was you that invented money, and corrupt economic systems.

You invented terms like 'just wars' and terms like 'friendly fire,'
And it was you that didn't know when to stop digging deeper and when to stop building higher.

It was you that exhausted the resources I carefully laid out on this earth,
And it was you that even saw these problems coming but accredited them little worth.

It was you that used my teachings for your own personal gain
And it was you that committed such tragedies, even if they were in my name.

So i apologise for any mistakes I made and for when my words were misconstrued,
But this apology is to Mother Nature because I created you.

Guitar Zeros

Next time I'm out in California I'm going to try to find these guys where they are playing. The band is called Guitar Zeros and they make music, real music using their Guitar Hero guitars hooked up to their computers. Looks pretty cool. If you want to try your hand at making some beautiful music they share their secrets here.

Here's an intro video about the band and what they do:

Endless Winter

Had a fun weekend in Michigan. Met up with some friends from college, here's the recap: The night started out with a private viewing of an art gallery at DePree. One of Steve's art professors had his works on display so we got to meet him and he told us all about his art. Seemed like a very cool guy. If you are in the area go check out the exhibit, there is some cool stuff there. Sorry I didn't take any pictures wasn't sure if that was acceptable and didn't want to embarrass Steve with my lack of art etiquette.
We then headed to the Brewery for Dinner, didn't have to wait long for a table which was nice. Enjoyed dinner in the company of Steve and Tom, Darren joined us later, also a cameo appearance by DWhite. Overheard at dinner : "Steve you still can't grow facial hair can you?" We were sitting upstairs, where we noticed a Little Devo award perched up on a ledge:
After dinner we stopped by Butch's where we ran into the second cameo by DWhite, this time accompanied by Sumo and their dates. We also ran into Betka (or Boss if that's your style)who was getting off her shift. She joined us for a drink and for the rest of the night. Elizabeth also joined up with us at this point. Again no pictures at Butch's. Tom did his best Bos impression by knowing and talking to just about everyone there.

While at Butch's we heard about a new hotel/restaurant/bar in the downtown Holland area that served wine on tap, so we had to check it out. That became our next stop.
The place was pretty swanky for Holland standards a cool looking bar on the main floor but we heard all the action was on a different floor. Tom put on his best anti-game and asked the front desk chick what was the quickest way to get to the second floor. She was puzzled, it turns out it was the elevator, oh and we didn't want the second floor all the action was on the fifth.
We got a table and checked out their impressive wine on tap collection, we ordered up some food while enjoying the magical Holland city view from the fifth floor of the building. Food and atmosphere was good, they also have the longest silverwear I've seen, very good for stealing food off a neighboring plate.We then returned to the Brewpub where we met up with Dunn and his cousin Jonas. We spent the rest of the night there enjoying some good conversation. The only thing that would have made this night better (besides a large cast of characters that was missing) would be a good game of photo hunt.
I went light on pictures for the rest of the weekend so I'll do a quick recap. Saturday Steve, Darren and I met up after lunch and did a little hiking at the dunes. Darren brought his dog Grizz, to the dunes for the first time, it was fun to see him run around, he has a lot of energy. We tried our luck on the dunes with a snow skate, but there was just too much snow, I went overboard many times, landing right on my face. Fun times. When we got back from our hike we went to Fricano's for some pizza with a few other guys, again good conversation and good food. After dinner we ended up a the brewery again where we played some pool and enjoyed each other's company.
Spent the rest of the time with Elizabeth's family, we tried out a new restaurant on sunday for lunch, very good food, and cool location right on the water. All in all it was a very fun weekend.

Sun

Yesterday was the first time in a long time when it was sunny when I left work, not just light out but really sunny. It sure felt nice - well it was still 9 degrees out but felt nice just the same.

Record Player

IMG_1595, originally uploaded by 9nineteen.

Last time we were in Michigan, my in-laws gave me all their old records, three boxes of them. There was a handful of good stuff and the rest was older bands and artists that I really didn't know. I still have to go through them all and select which ones I will keep. So I had these cool records that I know I wanted to listen to but nothing to play them on. So I hit up ebay. Found some cool old record players, most going for around $20, but another $20 for shipping so I could expect to pay around $40 but a cool, old record player. I decided to stop by a local thrift store on the way home from work, to see if they had anything and I did find one of those portables I had been looking at on ebay for $3. I was pretty pumped about the find, the problem was that I only had $3 in my wallet and I would have to cover the tax as well. I walked up to the front to check if they accepted credit cards, they did so I was back on track. When I went to retrieve the record player it was gone. I could not believe someone grabbed it in the the 2 minutes I had made my way to the front of the store. I spent about 20 minutes walking around the store to see if I could see someone with it or if someone had set it down somewhere else - but to no avail. Defeated, I made my way towards the front again and towards the exit, and then I saw the box behind the counter. I guess they keep their nicer items up there, a lot of electronics and such. The box said Crosley, I recognized the name only because I had seen so many of those one ebay earlier. There are a lot of these on ebay because they are modern record players, with cd players, radio, and tape decks, some of them even have cd burners so you can transfer your vinyl to a digital format - pretty cool stuff, anyway these were selling on ebay anywhere from $120 - $250. The thrift store had it for $50. That was more than I expected to spend at a thrift store for sure, but it happened to be brand new. It had all the packaging and tape in the right places. Not sure why it was returned, but I tested it there and everything worked fine. I bought it and have enjoyed it very much so far. We've used it everyday and we've been listening to records while we cook dinner, and clean up afterwards. Now I need to work on my collection. You can see it there on the picture above, tags still on it, and yes that is the Beatles White Album spinning on there.

Worship

I had a busy weekend churchwise, I was involved in three different services. I already talked about Saturday night, so here are the worship sets for the two Sunday services:

Morning at Lombard CRC
-Holy Holy - Nathan Fellingham
-Revelation Song - Jennie Lee Riddle
-None but Jesus - Brooke Fraser
-Your Love Oh Lord - Mac Powell
-When I Think About the Lord - James Huey

Sojourn Led Celebration Service at CCOB
Oh Praise Him - David Crowder
The Color Song - David Crowder
Sweet Mercies - David Ruis
Let Us Worship - Sojourn
All I Can Say - David Crowder
Clap Your Hands 2.3 - New Tune by Tommy O
How Great Is Our God - Chris Tomlin

A little Green in our step

IMG_1590
Originally uploaded by 9nineteen

The last couple of trips to the grocery store, we've managed to come home without a single plastic bag, which is a big plus. Ever since the "I'm not a plastic bag" phenomena alternatives to plastic have sprung up everywhere. All the grocery stores in the area have them and are selling for around $1. We first bought some bags at Jewel (Albertson's), but gave those to Elizabeth's mom and picked up more at Dominck's (Safeway) since they were bigger then the Jewel ones. My dad also brought us one from a grocery store in Brasil. That's the colorful green one in the picture. We always take them with when we go grocery shopping and try to keep one in the car just in case.

Radius

My friend Kevin and I led worship at the Radius tonight. It was my first time there, Kevin has led there a couple times before. It was a good night, they are doing a series based on the book UnChristian which has been blogged about a lot recently by a lot of the blogs I read. They had a good time of discussion which went a bit long, so we had to cut our set short, which was fine because we definitely did not want to hinder the excellent discussion that was going on. They put up podcasts every week on their site, so you can check out the message although they don't have the questions/discussion segment on there, still a good talk to listen to .

The set was:
Wholly Yours - David Crowder
You Have Redeemed My Soul > I Could Run Away - Enter the Worship Circle
You Said - Shane and Shane

We both played guitars, which is something we haven't done in a long time, but it was nice to get back to a simpler set(we usually play with a full band). Anyway the Radius community was a very cool and I'm sure we'll be back there soon.

Sir Edmund Hillary

Original Photo @ nzsheep

As a tribute to Sir Edmund Hillary, everyone go climb Everest - or at least get outside for a little bit this weekend.

World Golf Tour

Last night I tried out this new game called World Golf Tour. As you can see from the picture it has pretty good graphics. It's still in its early stages, its supposed to go into its beta phase soon, but for now you can try it out. It promises to be an addicting and productivity killing game since you'll be able to play against your friends online. I think this game might lure in some folks who have managed to steer clear of WOW or Second Life or some other online time sucking machine. I don't really play computer games but I did enjoy my time with this game. I could see some of my friends getting hooked though.

HELP

Last month a new edition of the Beatles movie, Help was released. I don't think anyone can deny the Beatles place in rock and roll history. A lot of the younger generations hear about the Beatles from their parents or other friends in college. This movie was my first exposure to the Beatles. My dad is a big Beatles fan, one day well over a decade ago he brought home this vhs from the library. We watched it and really enjoyed it, in fact it became one of our favorites. We watched it several times that week. This movie was made early in the Beatles career so I was exposed to those early melodic tunes, which were good. It wasn't till I was in college that I was exposed to their later, more psychedelic works. Anyway I can pinpoint my Beatles exposure to that movie thanks to my dad. I think that's pretty cool. I ended up getting that dvd for my dad for Christmas. I hope it reminds him of those times like it did for me.

Guitar Shopping

I've been doing some guitar shopping lately. I've been reading up on different brands and models while trying to figure out which guitar I would get next. While doing all this research I came across an interesting piece of guitar history. The way Takamine made their guitars in the late 70's was just about an exact replica of the much more expensive Martin guitars. They even had the same lettering on the logo, which made the guitars look that much more like Martins. Martin threatened to sue Takamine and as a result Takamine changed the way they designed their guitars. These lawsuit Takamines, as they are known, are supposed to be very good, quality guitars. They aren't as valuable as those Martin's from the 70's but if you come across one that is in good condition it should be a very good buy and a cool piece of guitar history for your collection. The same day I learned about these lawsuit Taks there was one on Craigslist for $175. I was very close to buying it, but I knew that I would be buying a guitar soon (not just a collectible but one I would play in church) so I couldn't justify the purchase. That evening I also saw one at Sam Ash selling for $450. I didn't end up getting one of these classics, but I will keep my eye open for one, I think it'd be cool to have one of those in my collection.

Takamine F340

Martin D28